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THE GREAT AMERICAN CANALS
canal exceeded three and one-half millions. The consternation aroused by this report can be imagined. Many felt that Maryland had been deceived and imposed upon. But the friends of internal improvements arose to the occasion. Meetings were held up and down the state. The canal and rail road people united hands which formerly had been clinched in threatening attitude, and on June 3, 1835, the Maryland Legislature passed the famous "Eight Million Dollar Bill."[1] Its items were as follows:
To the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
$3,000,000 | |
To the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
3,000,000 | |
To the Eastern Shore Rail Road Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
1,000,000 | |
To the Maryland Canal Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
500,000 | |
To the Annapolis Canal Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
500,000 | |
$8,000,000 |
As it stood the bill was a great victory for the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road interests, as one of its most important pro-
- ↑ Id., p. 61 (Laws of 1835, ch. 395).